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Opinion: Festival of Calamities

The Greek Herald
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Opinion: Festival of Calamities

By Zografos Zappas

Over the years we have seen and felt the inefficiencies of the people that run the Greek Festival of Sydney. This year takes the award for the worst planning blunders ever. We all know and see it, yet no one is prepared to speak up, to call those running the Festival to account, to bring about the change necessary to run these events professionally. Where does the problem lie? and why has the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW (GOC) Board been so silent on the matter?

The food vendors, the musicians, the venues, find doing business with the Festival Committee challenging; their inexperience and proven inability in running professional events. Most now see this as normal, accept it and expect it. Those running the Festival have simply been there too long, they serve themselves rather than the people, and they have poor management and event planning skills. They are unpopular and often enter into arrangements that compromise the Greek Community as a whole.

The President and the Board can sit back and cop the criticisms, or they can fix the problems. Yesterday’s Hope Estate event was innovative and fresh with many people looking forward to something new, but in Michael Hope’s words the event was “nothing but an unmitigated disaster and totally unacceptable”. Further, it appears some comments reflecting this have been deleted from the Festival’s Facebook Page. The letter from Mr Hope distancing himself from the Festival is in itself the single biggest criticism to act on those responsible. The apology from GOC is nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek note to appease.

Let’s start with this year’s first disaster at the Town Hall with the Hymn to Liberty concert, which started over an hour and a half late. The whole ticketing process was a shamble. People stood for over an hour with what they thought was their electronic ticket only to be given a manual ticket at the entry. On top of this the event was delayed as many dignitaries proceeded to the Opera House first to flick the switch at 8:00pm. It is also well known that the Festival, even though it called for the lighting of the Opera House initially, tried to change the date of the lighting at the last minute.

The orchestra and the singers waited over 2 hours to commence the performance. A big Bravo! to all those who performed, even though it was deliberately delayed, was wonderful. 

Next the City Recital Hall concert with Dimitri Basis.  An excellent event but behind the scenes disunity and professional ethics compromised. With 2 wonderful Greek choirs now in Sydney, GOC sought it fit not to engage with either of them, but undermined both Choirs by writing directly to the singers to lure them into performing for free and without acclaim. This is an act compromises the call for Greek unity.   

While we are on the City Recital Hall concert, the question must be raised as to why Dimitri Basis again? Don’t misunderstand me, but there are many more excellent performers than Basis, and this is now the 5th year he has performed for the Festival. Do we have a conflict of interest here? It remains unclear if there is a financial interest and to whom and how much? The community expects an explanation!

Then, we have the Greek Fest in Polkolbin, which was a paid event. 5000 people at $35 is $175,000.   The complaints have been many, from the children dancing on gravel, while the stage remained empty, with cues for food up to 2 hours and cues to get in with bag checks and food and water confiscated from the elderly. The Festival failed badly, putting people at risk and creating more disunity within the Greek community.

Now a tit for tat between Hope Estate and the GOC has started, as GOC refuses to ever take responsibility for the failure of its events, blaming the venue, or the suppliers, or the performers.   

The GOC represents the people of NSW, in fact it belongs to its members.  The Festival of Sydney is a celebration of our Greek community.  As each year passes it becomes more self-centred to those that run the Festival, servicing their needs, and not the community.  

There is growing anger within the community, but there is also growing frustration with those involved with the Festival Committee as it is not transparent on the multiple Government Grants it receives, keeps changing the goalposts for those willing to support them in these events and does not uphold professional standards in its dealings. How can it be seen as ethical, when the whole GOC is a law unto itself, controlling its membership to only those that will support its decisions. 

Whatever the community may be thinking, GOC needs a renewal, as there are too many blunders, too much money is being wasted and there is now a lack of trust and the community is asking questions. GOC is not a private business, it is a community Association and the community has the right to and expects full and open transparency from the GOC.

The GOC Board must address this matter and give the community the answers it deserves, and begin the process of finding suitable people to plan and execute what should be the biggest Greek Festival in Australia.   

United in arms: Veterans and Greek community leaders honour Battle of Crete 80th anniversary

The Greek Herald
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United in arms: Veterans and Greek community leaders honour Battle of Crete 80th anniversary

A special ceremony was held at the Martin Place epitaph in Sydney’s CBD on Saturday to commemorate 80 years since the Battle of Crete.

The ceremony was attended by Battle of Crete war veterans, descendants, Members of Parliament and Greek Community leaders as they remembered the Greek, Australian, British and New Zealand troops who desperately tried defending Greece against a huge German airborne assault on May 20, 1941.

Honourable dignitaries present at the event included His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, Lieutenant Commander Robert Valler Aide-deCamp, representing Her Excellency Margaret Beazley, David Elliott, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Matt Thistlethwaite MP, representing Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, Christos Karras, Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Trade Commissioner Katia Gkikiza, Emilios Michael, representing Cyprus High Commissioner Martha Mavrommati.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos

“Australians remember that battle, and we too draw strength from that courage, an example of those who have done so much to bring freedom,” David Elliott said on behalf of the Prime Minister.

“In the aftermath of a battle fought with honour, and conceded without disgrace, a deep friendship was forged.”

Messages for the anniversary from Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, and Prof. John Chrysoulakis, Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and Greeks Abroad, were played on a screen.

“As we commemorate this anniversary, we also celebrate the warm friendship between Greece and Australia,” Christos Karras said.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos

“…We celebrate our foreign values which bind us together as great friends.”

A notable guest for the ceremony was 104-year-old Alf Carpenter; One of Australia’s oldest surviving Anzacs and Battle of Crete survivor. Carpenter said The Ode in English, accompanied by Greek RSL President Peter Tsigounis who said the Ode in Greek, before he was assisted in placing a wreath onto the epitaph. Meeting with the Archbishop following the ceremony, the two briefly exchanged thoughts on the unique landscape of the island.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos

“United in war, we are often united in peace. These principles and ideals are as relevant today… as we pursuit a peaceful co-existence in a multicultural society, with a shared respect for our cultural diversity,” Archbishop Makarios said in his speech.

Students of St Spyridon, All Saints Grammar and St Euphemia all represented their schools with honour, also joining children from the Cretan Association of NSW in laying flowers on the epitaph.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
  • Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos

Stella Tzobanakis on ‘Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete’ revamp

John Voutos
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Stella Tzobanakis on ‘Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete’ revamp

Stella Tzobanakis went from a byline to a headline with the release of her debut book Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete but it was just this year, the battle’s 80th anniversary, that Creforce’s dedicatee picked up the book for the first time. 

“He’s just read the book as he is now 10… I know he’s biased, but he actually loves [it]. It was so rewarding to… give meaning to his heritage…

“…now the pieces of our family jigsaw puzzle are coming together and he’s really curious.”

Creforce gives readers as young as 10 a front-row seat to the Battle of Crete. 

There’s a reason why it’s on the Premier’s Reading Challenge List across Australia. It was funded by the Australian Council for The Drum series and remains one of the few children’s books that passes down Anzac stories from the Battle of Crete. 

Children are typically introduced to Roald Dahl in a different way, but in Creforce, he’s not the only familiar real-life ‘character’. 

Tzobanakis’ now 10-year-old son, Otto, at Souda Bay Cemetery in Crete (Supplied)

Creforce features the likes of Australia’s first Aboriginal Army officer Reginald Saunders, The Cretan Runner George Psychoundakis, and Horrie the Wog Dog.

“…there were two ANZACs – Charles Jager and Ben Travers – who were harbored by the Cretan people… [who] dressed them up as Cretan yiayiades and [taught] them how to walk, talk in the dialect, force them to stop smoking and swing their arms when they’re walking down the street like a soldier, and it helped them to escape the island and survive and write their story of their experience.”

But others weren’t so lucky, Tzobanakis says. 

“There are still, I’m sure, so many stories out there that we don’t know about and that’s why it’s really important that the spotlight is put on this battle a lot more because their stories will just get lost if they’re not told,” she says. 

“It’s up to us to keep those stories alive so we can learn from them, too.” 

Creforce got a revamp last year, with a new cover, revisions, and updated information. 

Writing Creforce was a “very emotional” two-year process, Tzobanakis says, involving vigorous fact-checking and a full immersion of Crete. 

Horrie the Wog Dog was a little terrier who became an unofficial mascot of the Anzacs. (Picture: The Australian War Memorial)

“I would play sounds of the Ju87 Stuka dive Bombers [German planes] … the screaming sirens of those planes as they were nosediving, just to get an image of how the people of Crete, or any ANZACs and Allied soldiers, would have felt to hear that noise and how terrifying it was.… 

“I really feel like I kind of lived it a little. I was really trying to mentally ‘go there’ and I hope that the book does that to some extent; transports you into their world so you can imagine a little bit of what they might have experienced.”

“The second Anzacs and the people of Greece and Crete really fought together, risked their lives for one another and now have bonds that will last a lifetime.

“It’s an extraordinary largely untold story and hopefully through this book and other initiatives, will become as well-known as Gallipoli.” 

Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is available at http://stelitsahome.bigcartel.com

Book by Greek-Australian doctor in 1970s re-emerges as core text for ‘anti-vax’ movement

The Greek Herald
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Book by Greek-Australian doctor in 1970s re-emerges as core text for ‘anti-vax’ movement

A book written by a Greek-Australian doctor in the 1970s has re-emerged as a pivotal text for Australia’s anti-vaccination movement.

The obituaries when Dr Archie Kalokerinos died in 2012 spoke glowingly of his service to Indigenous health. The Sydney Morning Herald credited him with cutting the infant mortality rate to zero in some regional NSW communities.

Former prime minister John Howard praised Kalokerinos for his “consistent and selfless efforts”.

What wasn’t mentioned was Kalokerinos’ claims that vaccinations were a cause of vitamin C deficiency.

His proposed treatment for almost every malady was large doses of the vitamin to boost the immune system. While large doses of vitamin C can help with scurvy and other deficiencies, there is no evidence to suggest it can help with strokes and diabetes.

He was reported to have given speeches at events run by Australia’s longest running anti-vaccination group, the Australian Vaccination Network.

He spoke about how the World Health Organization and Save the Children Fund were deliberately committing genocide through a mass vaccination program, and how the US government was conspiring to kill certain populations by encouraging those with known heart problems to get vaccinated.

Every Second Child is long out of print. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a core text for today’s anti-vaccination campaigners. Copies of the paperback are listed for sale on Amazon at more than $900 for Australian buyers.

The Australian Vaccination Network (which has since been renamed) posted in February that the book was a reason that Indigenous Australians were wary of being vaccinated.

One website hosting the free download shows it has been downloaded more than 2400 times. Facebook posts by users, including prominent international anti-vaxxers, that link to this digital copy of the book have received nearly 5000 engagements.

Source: Crickey.com.au

GCM Seminar: The Tomb of the Diver

The Greek Herald
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GCM Seminar: The Tomb of the Diver

Dr Gillian Shepherd from La Trobe University will present a lecture entitled The Tomb of the Diver: Life, Death, and Drinking and in the Ancient Greek World, on Thursday 27 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

The “Tomb of Diver” is a fifth century BC grave found outside the Greek city of Poseidonia in South Italy. Despite the fifty years that have elapsed since its discovery, the tomb remains unique: its painted internal walls depict a convivial scene of a symposion, or ritualised Greek drinking party. The symposium was a common subject on painted ancient Greek vases, but highly unusual as funerary decoration. What does this extraordinary scene of drinking and festivity tell us about attitudes to life, death and the afterlife in ancient South Italy, and the occupant of this elaborate grave? And how do we interpret the enigmatic image of the lone diver on the lid of the tomb?

Dr Gillian Shepherd is a lecturer in Ancient Mediterranean Studies and director of the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University. Gillian studied Classics and Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne before going on to complete a PhD in Classical Archaeology at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a research fellowship at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Until her return to Australia in 2012 to take up her position at La Trobe University, Gillian was Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include the ancient Greek colonisation of Sicily and Italy, burial customs, the archaeology and art of Greece and Magna Graecia, and childhood in antiquity. She is a co-editor of the recently published Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Childhood.

Date: Thu 27th May 2021, 7pm
Location: Greek Centre, (Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).
This is a hybrid seminar, can also be followed on Facebook and Youtube.

Remembering Greek author and actress Georges Sari

The Greek Herald
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Remembering Greek author and actress Georges Sari

By Ilektra Takuridu

Georges Sari, born as Georgia Sarivaxevani on 23 of May 1925, was a Greek author and actress. She is considered one of the most important children’s book authors in Greece of all time.

Georges was born in Athens, her father was a Greek from Ayvalik, Turkey, and her mother was French, hence why she was given the name Georges. She graduated and started taking acting classes at Dimitris Rontiris’ drama school, whilst Greece was still under Nazi occupation.

During the Greek Civil War, Georges Sari was wounded, this occurred just after World War II when a bomb exploded near her hand and foot, and she was treated at Agia Olga Hospital. A few years later, in 1946 she was forced to flee to Paris in exile due to the Greek Civil war. Whilst in Paris, she studied acting at the Charles Dullin School of  Dramatic Art, she also worked in a range of jobs to support herself.

During her years of exile in France, she met the Egyptian surgeon Marcel Karakosta, with whom she married, and the pair had two children together. Sari returned to Greece with her family in 1962 and began acting in the theatre until the rising of the Military junta. At that point, she and other actor associates chose to partake in passive resistance against the miltary and stopped acting in the theatre. 

During this time, she also wrote her first novel called The Treasure of Vaghia. Following her first novel, she published a number of other novels and was considered a successful writer.

Together with Alki Zei (another great Greek writer), she established a new style in the youth novel, both in terms of the vivid, autobiographical style, and the introduction of the political, social and historical element in the genre, which resulted in political thought no longer being a privilege that only adults could read and understand.

With her books, she led to the departure of Greek children’s literature from the standards of the 19th century, which was usually written with very dominant and protective styles, ethical teaching and the promotion of an imaginary world. Georges Sarri treated the child as an autonomous and free person with his or her own personality, and this is why she portrayed realistic heroes in her novel.

Most of her novels were addressed to the youth of Greece, and she often chose to talk about topics that revolved around important moments in modern Greek history, such as the second world war and the Greek Civil War.

Gerges Sarri received the Best Children’s Literature Book Award in 1994 for her book Ninety (a semi-autobiography of her sister). She received the Greek Cycle of Books twice, once in 1995 and again in 1999. In addition to these awards, she was also nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1988. Throughout her life Georges Sarri was a pioneer of critical thought and influenced many young Greeks to think deeper.  

On the 9th of June 2012, Georges Sari, aged 87 passed away in Athens, although her influence on the youth of Greece is always present through her novels.

Greece earns top 10 finish as Italy take home Eurovision trophy

The Greek Herald
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Greece earns top 10 finish as Italy take home Eurovision trophy

Greece has finished equal-tenth in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as Italy took home the trophy.

It’s Italy’s first win after returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 was the first victory for a band since 2006.

Italy scooped up a massive 318 points from the public vote, putting the rock song above national jury winners Switzerland, France and Malta. “Rock and roll never dies,” the winning band, Måneskin, proclaimed when taking the stage to perform their winning song Zitti E Buoni again.

The show took place in Rotterdam, in front of a limited capacity of 3,500 fans, and had all the thrills and spills you’d expect.

In the top 10 was Italy, France, Iceland, Ukraine, Finland, Switzerland, Malta, Lithuania, Russia and Greece and Bulgaria on an equal score.

Greece placed equal 10th in the competition. Photo: Eurovision Song Contest.

The UK’s James Newman finished last, with zero points, being the first time a zero point score has been given from both the professional juries and the public of Europe.

Stefania’s Last Dance captivated the crowd with her stunning visual tricks used with the background of her performance. Her Eurovision entry was written by a team of Eurovision veterans including Dimitris Kontopoulos (You Are The Only One and Shady Lady), Greek production team Arcade and Sharon Vaughn (Scream and Waterline).

Cyprus finished 16th in the competition.

More to come…

Melbourne locals fear Preston Market could be demolished for new apartments

The Greek Herald
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Melbourne locals fear Preston Market could be demolished for new apartments

Melbourne locals have expressed concern over a proposed structure plan for the Preston Market, which could see the precinct become home to up to 6,000 new residents by 2041.

Jim Katsaros has run Athina’s Deli for 10 years and comes to the Preston Market almost every day since arriving in Australia from Greece as an 11-year-old boy.

“The atmosphere is really what counts at the end,” he said to ABC News.

“You can find shopping centres all over the place, it will never be the same.”

The Victorian Planning Authority wants more people to be living in “20-minute neighbourhoods”, where all daily needs and public transport can be found within a 20-minute walk from home.

The Preston Market opened in 1970 and is Melbourne’s second-biggest market.(Supplied: Darebin Appropriate Development Association)

If that’s the mission, a parcel of land on the cusp of Melbourne’s inner-north next to a train station is a goldmine.

A proposed structure plan for the area released this week shows the potential introduction of a cinema, fitness centre, medical and childcare centres, community spaces and offices, which the authority says could support up to 1,400 ongoing jobs.

To make space for all that, the demolition of most of the original market structure would be allowed, but the fruit and vegetable shed would remain intact.

Site developers would be forced to include a fresh food market of at least the same trading size as the current market.

Under the structure plan, high-rise developments could house thousands of people on and around the market site.(Supplied: Victorian Planning Authority)

Mr Katsaros wants to see the market preserved through the development, so his children can have the opportunity to take on the family business if they choose.

“All I’m saying is I wish Salta, the owners, do a good job and look after the people, that is my wish,” he said.

“If they don’t, they’re going to create problems for everyone.”

He said generations of Melburnians from Pascoe Vale to Heidelberg had not built such loyalty to the market because of “glitter and the glamour”.

Mr Katsaros’s family deli is named after his wife, Athina.(ABC News: Joseph Dunstan)

“You need family-created businesses where you can sell fresh stuff and cater for human beings,” he said.

The VPA’s CEO, Stuart Moseley, said the plan would help deal with a “sea of carparking” that was underused two days a week.

Mr Moseley said the idea was to transform the space into a “thriving precinct” for the future.

“The planning rules we have released will ensure there is a market on that site, that it is a fresh food market, that it has the same look, feel … trading area as it currently does and that it has that vibe about it that makes it special,” he said.

Source: ABC News

‘Ancient Greeks’ exhibition set to tour Australia for the first time

John Voutos
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‘Ancient Greeks’ exhibition set to tour Australia for the first time

The British Museum’s Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors, and Heroes exhibition is set to tour Australia and much of the southern hemisphere for the first time.  

The exhibition features some 180 objects and will kick off at Perth’s Western Australian Museum Boola Bardip in June before moving to Canberra’s National Museum of Australia in December.  

The tour comes after prolonged delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The exhibition, curated by Dr Peter Higgs, explores the theme of competition through sports, politics, drama, music and warfare through dozens of artefacts from ancient Greece. 


Canberra’s National Museum of Australia has recently hosted many of the world’s ancient wonders (L: Sourced from spiritland.net) (R:  Trustees of the British Museum, 2021 All rights reserved).  

Key objects include iconic black and red figured ceramics, marble statues and reliefs, bronze figurines, weapons and armour, toys and games, fine gold jewellery, and coins. 

The exhibition comes as part of a partnership between the British Museum, the National Museum of Australia, the Western Australian Museum, and the Tmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The exhibition is the fourth in a series of British Museum exhibitions that have featured at the National Museum of Australia, following Rome: City and Empire in 2018, A History of the World in 100 Objects in 2016, and Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum in 2015. 

National Museum of Australia director, Dr. Mathew Trinca, said he was delighted that the show, which celebrates sporting prowess in the ancient Olympic Games, will now bookend the rescheduled 2021 Olympics.
 
“We are thrilled that we can finally bring Ancient Greeks to east coast audiences after a 12-month delay. With COVID still among us and Australians looking for exciting experiences at home, this show really fits the bill,” Dr. Trinca said.
 
“I know audiences will be mesmerised by the stories of competition in the ancient Greek world and by the beautiful depictions of athletes, the ceramics, sculptures, armour, and jewellery featured in the show,” Dr. Trinca said.

Academic and artist join forces to retell Bouboulina’s story

Argyro Vourdoumpa
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Academic and artist join forces to retell Bouboulina’s story

Two women from the Greek diaspora, filmmaker, writer and researcher from the USA, Dr April Kalogeropoulos-Householder and Melbourne-based artist Efrossini (Effie) Chaniotis have joined their creative forces to honour Laskarina Bouboulina and help keep the heroine’s legacy alive. 

Drawn from her heritage and passionate about women in Greek history and culture, April commissioned Effie with an artwork and this is how a series of projects and global collaborations was set in action. 

April Kalogeropoulos-Householder, talks to The Greek Herald about her initiative and her will to unearth more stories of women who – like Bouboulina – contributed to the Greek War of Independence. 

  • April, you have commissioned Greek-Australian Artist Effie Chaniotis with an artwork that you are planning to gift to the Bouboulina Museum next year. What is your connection with the museum? Tell us a bit more about this initiative.

Back in 2004 while I was a graduate student at the University of Maryland, I was working on a Ph.D. dissertation about Bouboulina and spent time in Spetses researching her life and making a documentary film about her. Now, I am turning that research into a book that will be out next year- the first book about Bouboulina in English. 

Over the years, I became good friends with Philip Demertzis-Bouboulis, who was Bouboulina’s 5th generation grandson, and who founded the Bouboulina museum in 1991 in the family’s mansion. That friendship has grown to include Philip’s wife, Linda, and his son Pavlos, who now run the museum. 

April with Philip Demertzis-Bouboulis at the Bouboulina Museum, 2001. Photo: Supplied by: April Kalogeropoulos Householder

Throughout my research, I was desperate to discover the “true” Bouboulina- who she was, how she thought, what motivated her, and what she looked like. Since she did not leave a memoir, what we have are fragments of impressions created by those who came into contact with her- philhellenes from France, Britain, and the U.S. who had come to Greece to help in the War of Independence, a few documents written by her hand, family oral histories, and several portraits painted posthumously by European artists. 

Many of the accounts contain contradictory information. Some say she was a ruthless war-monger, “so ugly that she had to seduce her lovers at pistol point.” Others reported that she was a beloved “Capetanissa”, strong-willed, with a sturdy physique and charming manner. It dawned on me that every single reference was made by male artists and historians who had their own personal, political, and patriarchal motivations for rendering her in those ways. 

To celebrate the bicentennial of the revolution, I set out to find a female artist to commission a new portrait of Bouboulina to add to the historical cannon of images. I came across Effie in an Instagram post and was instantly drawn to her style. Her “Modern Icons” series, which utilizes elements of Byzantine iconography mixed with contemporary influences, was the perfect way to commemorate Bouboulina as a heroine of the Greek revolution and elevate her to the status of a saint. 

With the passing of Philip in 2018, I thought that including him in the painting would tell the story of how he dedicated his life to founding the museum, and that the family could hang the painting in the museum and add Philip’s story to their live guided tours. 

Effie painted the two figures holding the museum in their hands, as a reference to the icon of Constantine and Eleni, founders of the Greek Orthodox church. Effie’s painting is full of delicate touches- you get the feeling that it was made with a kind of love that flows from the divine feminine. And besides being an important historical contribution to Bouboulina’s story, it is also full of many layers of meaning for viewers to interpret. 

The attention to detail is outstanding, and aesthetically it is simply breathtaking. Because of the pandemic, I will dedicate the painting to the museum next summer, along with an artist’s talk featuring Effie and one of my students who is animating the painting to bring it to life, and some other special events that will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the great Naval Battle of Spetses (September 8, 1822) at the annual Armata festival.

  • Why did you choose an Australian artist of Greek background for this painting and what where the elements that draw you to Effie’s style?

It was important to me to find an artist who had a connection to Greece, Greek art, and the Greek diaspora. 

After my initial consultation with Effie, I knew that I had found the perfect person for the project. I have a background in the arts, and Effie and I talked for hours in that first meeting, about art history, Greek culture, and her approach, which is very collaborative. There is just something that Greeks of the diaspora share, that Effie and I also have in common, almost like an unspoken language… the pride in our heritage, the longing to return, the beauty of the Greek language. We instantly clicked as creative partners. 

The painting will be dedicated to the Bouboulina Museum next year. Photo supplied by: April Kalogeropoulos Householder

In terms of her style, many of Effie’s pieces spoke to me on a visual as well an emotional level. 

Rather than realism, symbolism gives way to imagination, connection, and intricacy. 

You will notice that the painting of Bouboulina is full of vitality- symbols of life overcoming death, pomegranate seeds, trees, broken chains. The energy contained in the painting is about Bouboulina as an eternal figure, and of Philip’s legacy, which is why the words ελευθερία and αιώνιος appear in the painting- a play on the famous phrase of the revolution, “Eλευθερία ή θάνατος”.

  • As a researcher you focus on women in Greek history and culture. Do you think people know enough about their contribution in this important part of history?

Women have always been written out of history, and with Greece, it is no exception. 

How often do we hear about General Kolokotronis, but do not realize that Bouboulina worked side-by-side with him and they planned several battles together? Not only that, but she was his in-law, as her daughter, Eleni, was married to his son, Panos. 

In the 1800s, families married for prestige and wealth, not love, so this is really saying something about her level of importance. Bouboulina moved in circles that included the most powerful people of the time- the Ottoman Sultan, and his mother, the Valide, Sultana; Tsar Alexander I and Ambassador Stroganoff of Russia; members of the Philiki Etaireia; and rebel priest, Papaflessas, who came to Spetses in 1818 to organize the revolt. 

From L to R: Heroines of the Greek War of Independence Manto Mavrogenous, Dora Visvizi and Laskarina Bouboulina

She did all of this at a time when women’s roles were confined to that of mother, wife, or concubine.  Women were not educated, did not have a voice in public life, and certainly no woman was permitted to take up arms and join in the revolution as a fighter. Oh, and by the way, at the outbreak of the war, she was 50 years old and the mother of ten children.

There were many other women who contributed to the revolution that we are just now learning about, such as Manto Mavorgenous, a wealthy woman from Mykonos; Domna Visvizi, from eastern Thrace and Mariyo Zarafopoula who was born and lived in Tatavla, a district of Istanbul. 

There are definitely many other stories of women in this important part of history that we don’t yet know about that need to be unearthed. Some of my future projects will explore these stories, including another collaboration with Effie on an exhibition to be held in Adelaide later this year. 

  • An American researcher like yourself and an artist from Australia -both of Greek background- contributing to keep a part of Greece’s past alive. How does this make you feel?

One thing about the pandemic is that it has normalized global collaborations through online relationships. A Greek-American working together with a Greek-Australian on a project for a museum run by a Greek-Brit to keep Greece’s past alive is a beautiful thing! What many people don’t realize is that even at the time of the revolution, Greece was a vast diaspora. 

The inhabitants were comprised and influenced by many different cultures, including the Balkans, Anatolia, Venetian, and yes, Ottoman. Greek enlightenment thinkers like Adamantios Korais and Rigas Feraios were living abroad in places like Paris and Bucharest. Bouboulina herself was of Arvanite descent. 

April as a 6-year old on her first visit to Spetses, in 1978. Photo: Supplied by: April Kalogeropoulos Householder

Greeks of the diaspora have a strong pull towards their heritage, and I’m proud to be part of that tradition. 

The dedication at the end of my films says, “For my grandmother, Ourania. Thank you for making me Greek.” Greece has long been a source for my intellectual and spiritual interests. I first visited Spetses when I was six years old. The island is burned into my memories and my heart.

Researchers and artists, although they use different methods and create different products, fundamentally have the same purpose, which is to be good storytellers.

Effective researchers know how to paint a picture with words; good artists research and match their style to their subjects. Ultimately, both want to educate, spark emotions, and inspire change.

These are the goals of the museum, the painting, and my on-going research about women in Greek history.

*To support the Bouboulina Museum contact bouboulinamuseum@gmail.com or via Friends of Bouboulina Museum

READ MORE: ‘A phenomenon’: Pavlos Demertzis-Bouboulis on his ancestor naval commander Bouboulina

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